Policy Address 2026: Hong Kong to extend baby bonuses, increase child allowance

Hong Kong will extend its newborn baby bonus scheme, increase tax allowances for families with newborns, and develop more subsidised daycare facilities in a bid to boost fertility and assist young families amid record-low births, the city’s leader has announced.

Chief Executive John Lee introduced the measures during his annual Policy Address on Wednesday.

The baby bonus scheme, which grants families HK$20,000 for their first child and HK$30,000 for subsequent births, was due to expire next month. Instead, it will be extended for another three-year term.

As of August 31, the government had distributed payouts totalling around HK$1.56 billion to 77,709 applicants, local media reported.

The child allowance will also be increased, with the tax deduction for second and subsequent children bumped up to HK$160,000 from HK$140,000. The additional allowance for the first two years after a child is born will also rise to HK$160,000.

The government will also offer HK$20,000 in stamp duty relief for families who purchase a home within the first two years after childbirth.

Families with newborns will be granted priority in the allocation of government-subsidised flats, and the maximum loan-to-value ratio for residential property mortgages will be raised from 90 to 95 per cent.

Lee also said that public hospitals will increase their quotas for in vitro fertilisation services to 1,900 per year over the next three years, and the government will build three more subsidised daycare centres for children under three.

No comprehensive population policy

Fewer than 30,000 babies were born in Hong Kong from July 2025 to the end of June this year, marking a record low for the city.

Ten years ago, the number of births was more than double this figure, at 59,863.

Nixie Lam, a legislator with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), said in early September that Hong Kong should draft a comprehensive population policy.

She said that although the government has introduced measures to boost fertility, these have been “scattered around different bureaux and government departments.”

Lam urged authorities to set up a population policy task force, led by secretarial-grade officers, to conduct research into what young people think about starting families and raising children.

Chief Executive Lee did not mention Hong Kong’s low birth rate in his Policy Address, nor did he indicate that the government would consider a comprehensive approach.

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Irene Chan is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press and has an interest in covering political and social change. She previously worked at Initium Media as chief editor for Hong Kong news and was a community organiser at the Society for Community Organisation serving the underprivileged. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Fudan University and a master’s degree in social work from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Irene is the recipient of two Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards and three honourable mentions for her investigative, feature and video reporting. She also received a Human Rights Press Award for multimedia reporting and an honourable mention for feature writing.